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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28155294">Not Right Yet (But Still Trying)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazy8/pseuds/Lazy8'>Lazy8</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bad Things Happen Bingo [20]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Animal Attack, Canon Compliant if You Really Squint, Gen, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Katara is hostile, Poison, Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Vomiting, Western Air Temple, Zuko (Avatar) whump, but if Zuko needs healing she's still going to heal him</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:35:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,026</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28155294</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazy8/pseuds/Lazy8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Foraging for food should have been simple and straightforward... except for the fact that Zuko has the worst luck.</p>
<p>The universe never did like to make anything easy on him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Katara &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Sokka &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong &amp; Zuko</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bad Things Happen Bingo [20]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1846456</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>270</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Bad Things Happen Bingo</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Not Right Yet (But Still Trying)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p><b>Prompt:</b> Poison/Venom<br/><b>Hurt Character:</b> Zuko<br/>Comforting Character(s): Toph</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Zuko almost jumped out of his skin as a basket was slammed down in front of him right in the middle of his morning meditation. "<em>What?</em>" he snarled… only to immediately regret his life choices when it turned out that the person responsible for dropping it nearly in his lap, and who was currently looking down at him with a glare that could freeze lava, was none other than Katara.</p>
<p>"If you're going to be here eating our food," and Spirits if her voice wasn't as cold and deadly as the element she wielded, "the <em>least</em> you can do is make yourself useful."</p>
<p>"I can't train the Av—<em>Aang</em> every hour of the day," he (perhaps unwisely) protested. "Besides, he's busy with Toph right—"</p>
<p>"That's <em>not</em> what I meant." Katara pointedly gave the basket a nudge with her foot, nearly kicking it into his lap in the process. "Sokka's going fishing, and <em>you're</em> going to help him get us more food." She crossed her arms. "I'm sure even <em>royalty</em> can manage to pick berries."</p>
<p>With a sigh, Zuko stood, and picked up the basket without arguing. It wasn't as if he could just go back to meditating, and at this point, it was either go with Sokka or spend the rest of the day contending with Katara's glares and thinly veiled insinuations that he was about to turn on them.</p>
<p>Besides, he genuinely <em>did</em> want to help. Zuko had caused these people a lot of grief, and didn't need to be told that he had a lot to make up for.</p>
<p>Sokka, at least, was less hostile than his sister, though he <em>did</em> seem to be at a loss for what to say when Zuko showed up with the basket and said he was there to help him get food. "Soooooooo… ever gone fishing before? You know, being a prince and all?"</p>
<p>"Um…" Zuko rubbed the back of his neck. "Once," he admitted. "It… didn't go too well. And Uncle brewed a poisonous plant for tea while I was gone."</p>
<p>"Oh." Sokka blinked a few times before recovering his equilibrium, spending a couple of seconds trying to figure out <em>what</em> Zuko was talking about before abruptly deciding that it didn't matter. "Ah, well." Gesturing for Zuko to follow him, he led them over to a clump of bushes, heavy with berries. "Here. These, these, and these are all edible. Be sure not to grab any of the green ones, though, especially these. These <em>will</em> make you sick if you eat them when they're green." Sokka patted him on the back a couple of times, a bit awkwardly. "I'm going to be fishing on that rock over there. Meet me there once you've filled up the basket."</p>
<p>It was a clear dismissal. As Sokka settled down cross-legged on the wide rock and cast his line into the stream, Zuko pushed his way into the bushes in search of ripe berries.</p>
<p>…and was immediately served a humiliating reminder that wilderness survival was <em>not</em> one of his skills.</p>
<p>Five seconds in, he was covered in scratches. He somehow managed to get himself tangled up in the foliage at least three times before he'd even gotten five berries into the basket. There were twigs in his hair and leaves down his shirt. To top it all off, two of the three bushes that Sokka had shown him were covered in thorns.</p>
<p>"Oh, sure," he muttered to himself as a sudden stumble made him clench his fist on the nearest available object without thinking about it, squashing the berry he'd just picked and leaving his fingers covered in red juice. He irritably wiped it off on his shirt before reaching for another. "Even <em>royalty</em> can manage this." The only reason he had yet to burn down the whole stand of bushes was that they genuinely <em>needed</em> the food, and he wasn't exactly good to show his face in the nearest market. He shoved his hand deeper into the bush, never mind that he was already standing practically in the middle of it as it was. "I'd love to see <em>Azula—</em>"</p>
<p>That was when he was brought up short by a searing pain in his forearm.</p>
<p>On reflex, he yanked his arm away from whatever had bitten him, but he wasn't fast enough. He didn't even have his arm halfway free when a brownish head covered in equal parts feathers and scales shot out from between the leaves and sank its fangs into him once more.</p>
<p>He was still frozen in shock when Sokka came walking around the bend in the stream.</p>
<p>"Hey Zuko, did you get—whoa!"</p>
<p>At that point, several things happened all at once, to the point where if someone had asked Zuko later what their order had been, he would have been unable to say. The creature (whatever it was) withdrew its fangs from his arm and whipped back into its hiding place. Zuko staggered backward as he was hit by a sudden wave of dizziness, and he couldn't be sure whether it came from the venom or from the shock of what had just happened. Sokka was rushing forward, undoing his belt as he ran. Only when Zuko was already on his knees did he notice the rivulets of blood dripping from the twin sets of punctures in his arm.</p>
<p>The absolute <em>stupidest</em> thing his mind chose to fixate on, even as Sokka was kneeling in front of him and wrapping his belt firmly around Zuko's arm, starting just above his elbow and continuing past the location of the bite all the way down to his wrist, was the way Sokka's own basket had fallen carelessly to the ground, spilling flopping fish all over the rocks: their hard-won food, all gone to waste.</p>
<p>"Sokka… your fish…"</p>
<p>"<em>Forget</em> the fish." Sokka's mouth was tight, his face ashen. "We need to get you help, <em>now</em>."</p>
<p>In the end, Zuko was never quite sure <em>how</em> Sokka got him from the bottom of the canyon all the way back up to the Western Air Temple. Already, he was feeling far too shaky and off-balance to climb back up under his own power, and even if he had felt up to it, Sokka point-blank refused to let him use his arm. Mostly, he remembered stumbling along over the rocks at the bottom of the canyon, being half-carried, being <em>fully</em> carried, and finally Sokka just standing somewhere beneath the Temple and <em>shouting</em>.</p>
<p>Luckily, the walls of the canyon made his voice echo, so his calls for help were magnified far beyond what any normal person would be able to produce on their own. <em>Someone</em> clearly heard them, for no sooner had Sokka shouted than both of them were being lifted up on a pillar of rock and deposited on the Temple floor, where they were immediately surrounded by a circle of worried faces.</p>
<p>Immediately, Katara was pushing her way through the crowd, and her eyes widened as she took in the now-bloodied belt that was wrapped around Zuko's arm. "What happened?"</p>
<p>"Hawk-viper." Sokka's voice had lost none of its tension, and the fact that his shirt was hanging open because he'd used his belt as a makeshift bandage did nothing to lighten the mood. "I made sure to wrap it right away, but…"</p>
<p>"Right." All of a sudden, Katara was kneeling in front of him; when she first began unwrapping the belt, Zuko's first instinct was to jerk away because she had been <em>yelling</em> at him only that morning, but her free hand was already holding his wrist in a firm grip that forced him to keep his arm outstretched. "<em>Don't</em> tense up, you'll only make it spread faster." She examined the wounds for a few seconds while everyone else watched. "Water healing can't be used to neutralize poisons, but maybe I can just…"</p>
<p>The hand that wasn't holding his arm in place bent at the wrist, her fingers pointed down. As she slowly drew her arm upward, a few small trickles of clear fluid began to seep out of the punctures on his arm, following the course of her fingers.</p>
<p>Zuko couldn't quite hold in a hiss of pain, and not just because it <em>hurt</em>, even worse than being bitten in the first place—he'd already endured much worse, after all. It was also because there was an inexplicable feeling of <em>wrongness</em> to what she was doing, using her waterbending to reach inside him and draw the venom out. Purely on reflex, he found himself jerking away once more, but Katara only tightened her grip on his wrist and refused to let him move. "If I don't finish this, <em>you will die</em>. Getting bitten <em>once</em> can kill a grown man. Twice, and your chances are <em>zero</em> unless you let me help."</p>
<p>Zuko believed her. Much as he knew she still hated him, the concern he was sensing from the others said she was not exaggerating, and in the moment, her complete lack of hostility was what scared him most.</p>
<p>It was then that Sokka, who'd been standing behind him, knelt down and placed both hands firmly on Zuko's shoulders—he couldn't tell whether it was an attempt to offer comfort, to just to keep him from flinching again, and in that moment, he honestly didn't care. "Let her work," Sokka admonished, and though he seemed to be trying to keep his voice light, it was impossible not to hear the undertone of worry. "Trust me, she knows what she's doing."</p>
<p>So, Zuko did his best to relax his tense muscles, and tried to focus on keeping his breathing even while Katara continued to make pulling motions with her fingers just above his arm, each time drawing out a few drops of clear liquid and letting them fall into the bowl that Aang held out for her without a word. Finally, she rocked back on her heels and drew a glove of water from her pouch.</p>
<p>"I got out as much as I could, but your body already absorbed some of it before you got back, and there's really not much to be done except just ride it out." Zuko nodded his understanding as she pressed a water-coated hand to his forearm; the skin knit back together as neatly as if he'd never been bitten.</p>
<p>He knew she probably didn't want to hear it from him, but… "Thank you, Katara."</p>
<p>"Don't thank me just yet. You are still <em>not</em> out of the woods."</p>
<p>Unfortunately, she seemed to be right. Zuko's vision was not particularly great even on the best of days, but now even his <em>good</em> side was starting to blur. Worse yet, when he attempted to stand up, he was immediately overcome by a wave of dizziness and was only saved from falling flat on his face by Sokka grabbing hold of his arm.</p>
<p>"Right." Sokka turned to his sister, ignoring Zuko's protestations. "Obviously he's not okay, so how do we handle this?"</p>
<p>Katara sighed. "Sokka, help him back to his room, and <em>stay</em> with him until I get there. Zuko, you are going to lie down and you are going to <em>rest</em>. The rest of you, clear off unless there's something you can do to help. This is an emergency, not a circus."</p>
<p>As everyone scrambled to do as she said, Zuko contemplated the unpleasant task of getting himself back to his room. Sokka beat him to it, though: he hadn't taken two steps before the other boy took it upon himself to scoop him up and carry him.</p>
<p>"What are you <em>doing?</em>" he hissed as Sokka hefted him right off the ground and slung Zuko over his shoulders before he could even think to put up a fight.</p>
<p>"Helping you," Sokka shot back without the slightest hint of shame. "You're not exactly good to walk on your own, mate."</p>
<p>Zuko groaned. "This is <em>embarrassing</em>."</p>
<p>"Well, yeah," Sokka said cheerfully, "but not as embarrassing as falling flat on your face right in front of everyone would have been."</p>
<p>…okay, so maybe he had a point. Not that Zuko would <em>ever</em> be admitting that.</p>
<p>He also had to admit it was a relief to finally lie down. Between the dizziness, the churning in his stomach, and his increasingly blurred vision, Zuko didn't think he'd have been able to go much longer without collapsing even if Sokka <em>had</em> let him walk. He didn't even have the energy to protest when Sokka pulled his boots off before stripping him out of his outer tunic.</p>
<p>"Oh… oh, that's not good."</p>
<p>"What?" When Sokka didn't answer, Zuko attempted to push himself up on his elbows, only to immediately collapse back down on the bed. He squinted, but couldn't seem to bring Sokka's face into focus. "<em>What's</em> not good?"</p>
<p>"Um… well, your fingers are sort of turning blue."</p>
<p>It was at that moment that Katara bustled into the room, a bowl of water in her hands. Sokka stood up to make room for her, though he made no move to leave.</p>
<p>"Okay." She took the chair that Sokka had just vacated, drawing water around her hands. "Tell me what symptoms you're experiencing, and <em>don't</em> leave anything out. I'm sure you don't want to be here any more than I do, and the more I know, the better I can heal you."</p>
<p>So, he did his best to describe the nausea, dizziness, and blurry vision while Katara nodded clinically. He still couldn't help but jerk away when she reached a glowing hand toward his face.</p>
<p>"For Tui's sake, I'm not going to hurt you while you're sick in bed!"</p>
<p>"Yeah, which is totally why you threatened to <em>kill</em> me!"</p>
<p>Katara shot to her feet in a quick and furious motion that sent the chair clattering backwards. The water splashed to the floor as she poked a finger into his chest. "Let me make one thing clear." She leaned in close, so the two of them were nearly nose to nose. "If you <em>ever</em> make me choose between Aang's life and yours, then I am going to choose Aang. Every. Single. Time." She jabbed her finger at him with every word she spoke. "But I am <em>not</em> the savage that you think I am. It might be perfectly acceptable to stab people in their beds in the Fire Nation, but <em>we</em> don't murder people who can't fight back." Her hand jerked upward; Zuko flinched, but she was only drawing the water she'd dropped back up off the floor. "Now, are you going to let me heal you or not?"</p>
<p>Zuko's whole body was still tense as if ready for a fight, but after a few seconds he nodded stiffly and lay back down. He still couldn't help but flinch when she laid a hand on his forehead and it started to glow.</p>
<p>"What is your <em>problem?</em>"</p>
<p>"I don't like people touching my face, okay?"</p>
<p>"Well, I <em>have</em> to check for damage to your vital organs, and the more you squirm around, the longer it's going to take, so you're just going to have to find a way to live with it."</p>
<p>Zuko clenched his fists. "Well, warn me first next time!"</p>
<p>"Fine." Katara crossed her arms. "I need to touch your head now to check for brain damage." The expression on her face said that she'd already drawn her own conclusions on <em>that</em> particular count.<em> "</em>Was that to your satisfaction, <em>Your Highness?</em>"</p>
<p>So, Zuko gritted his teeth and did his best to stay still through her ministrations. Thankfully, she was true to her word and only held the water against his head for a couple of seconds, before moving down to rest her glowing hands over his heart, followed by several other spots on his torso, before telling him to turn over and repeating the process on his back. Though she wasn't taking any particular care to be gentle, neither did she go out of her way to hurt him, and in all honesty, Zuko could live with that. It was more consideration than he'd gotten from the palace physicians who'd initially treated his burn.</p>
<p>By the time she was finished, he actually felt a little bit better. Not <em>well</em> by any means, but still better.</p>
<p>"You're probably in for a pretty rough night," Katara informed him as she bent the water back into the bowl. "I can't get the rest of the poison out of your system; the most I can do is keep repairing the damage until your body purges it on its own. In the meantime, you're going to have to rest, and if you start feeling especially bad, <em>call me</em>."</p>
<p>"Right," Zuko conceded, but Katara was already turning to her brother.</p>
<p>"I don't want him left alone until I can be sure he's out of danger. Make sure he drinks some water, and if he needs to get up for any reason, help him. I'll send someone in with food later." Sokka nodded as she swept out of the room.</p><hr/>
<p>Later that night, Zuko was woken from his uneasy sleep by the realization that the slight nausea he'd felt earlier had now evolved to a full-blown heaving sensation. He barely managed to thrust his head over the side of the bed before the contents of his stomach were spewing up out of his mouth.</p>
<p>Normally, he would start to feel better immediately after vomiting. Not this time. First, he emptied his stomach of what little food and water he'd managed to get down that evening. Then, after the first few heaves, he was just bringing up bile, then <em>nothing</em>, but the fact that he didn't have anything left to expel did absolutely nothing to stop his stomach from heaving or his throat from locking up, and he leaned over the side of the bed for what felt like half an hour or more and just heaved and heaved and heaved and brought absolutely nothing up.</p>
<p>"Wow Sparky, I think you set some sort of record there."</p>
<p>Zuko had only <em>just</em> gotten to the point where he felt safe to lie back down without unexpectedly spewing vomit all over himself. He pushed himself back up with a groan, lighting a flame in his palm. "Toph?" Sure enough, the firelight fell over the form of the little earthbender, who was sitting on the opposite side of the room with her back against the wall.</p>
<p>"Duh." She reached down to pick something from in between her toes.</p>
<p>"What <em>time</em> is it? Also, why are you in here?"</p>
<p>"Late." With a shrug, she flicked away whatever it was she'd pulled from between her toes. "And Sugar Queen wanted me in here so that if your heart gave out in the middle of the night or something, someone would notice in time for her to actually <em>do</em> something about it, rather than everyone just finding your dead body in the morning." Toph made a gesture toward the side of his bed. "You're welcome, by the way."</p>
<p>At first, Zuko wasn't sure what she was talking about—but then looked down, and instead of bare floor saw an earthen basin by the side of his bed, right underneath the spot where his head had been hanging over the edge. Sure enough, it was filled nearly to the brim with a liquid whose texture and smell nearly made him start retching all over again, but it would save him (or the next person who had to take care of him) from accidentally <em>stepping</em> in it. The bowl wasn't one of their regular dishes; as a matter of fact it looked to have been hastily bent from the stone floor of the Temple.</p>
<p>"Oh… um… thanks, Toph."</p>
<p>"Don't mention it." With a jerk of her fist, the edges of the bowl crept up over the top until it was completely sealed over, at which point it went flying out the door. Zuko didn't ask where she had thrown it; he wasn't entirely sure he <em>wanted</em> to know.</p>
<p>Besides which, he was still feeling <em>awful</em>. Worse than he had been when he'd finally managed to fall asleep.</p>
<p>No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than he was leaning over the side of the bed and heaving again, never mind that he had already emptied his stomach of anything that could <em>possibly</em> come back up. After a few minutes' worth of dry heaving, he was finally able to slump back onto the bed. He was shaking and covered with sweat, and his limbs felt like overcooked noodles. His flame had gone out when his guts had started attempting to fling themselves up his throat, and he didn't have the energy to light another, leaving the room in complete darkness. He might not have been able to see anything, but it <em>felt</em> like the room was spinning around him.</p>
<p>"You okay over there, Sparky?" He didn't answer right away, still not trusting what his body might decide to do if he opened his mouth. "Hey, Zuko…?"</p>
<p>"'m fine." Even though there was no longer any light to block out, he threw an arm over his eyes in an instinctive effort to ease the pounding in his head.</p>
<p>"You're not." In contrast to her usual brusque manner, Toph's voice sounded genuinely worried, and there was a faint rustling of cloth as she pushed herself to her feet. "I'm getting Katara." Then, before Zuko could even think to protest, she was gone.</p>
<p>A few minutes later she was back with a tousle-headed Katara, who was carrying a lit candle in one hand and a bowl of water in the other. As she set both down on the bedside table, her mouth stretched wide in a yawn.</p>
<p>"I'm going to put my hand on your head for a few seconds, okay? Try to relax." Apparently she was too tired at the moment to remember how much she hated him.</p>
<p>Katara repeated the same routine she'd done that afternoon, starting at his head before running her water over his chest and stomach, then having him roll over so she could access his back. She yawned again as she finished, bending her water back into the bowl.</p>
<p>"You were right to get me, Toph. And <em>you</em>," she returned her attention to Zuko, "might not have died, but you were on the brink of organ failure by the time I got in here." She shoved a full waterskin into his face with the air of challenging him to a duel. "Oh, and drink something before you go back to sleep. You're pretty dehydrated."</p>
<p>"Seriously? I feel like I've just puked up everything I've swallowed in the past <em>week</em>."</p>
<p>"Which is <em>exactly</em> why you need to drink something." Katara gave the waterskin a small shake, somehow managing to make the gesture look more threatening than a brandished knife. "Unless, that is, you'd rather I sit on you and bend it down your throat?"</p>
<p>At that, Toph cackled. "She's not lying, Sparky. I'd do what she says."</p>
<p>Zuko groaned—but he <em>did</em> actually feel less nauseated now that Katara had healed him, and he <em>really</em> didn't want to give her an excuse to humiliate him if he could help it. So, with a sigh, he reached out to take the waterskin.</p>
<p>"There, was that so hard?" Katara demanded after he'd finished. Zuko, in a rare moment of foresight, decided it would be best not to antagonize her and handed back the empty waterskin without comment.</p>
<p>"Try to get some sleep," she continued as he curled back up under the covers, and though her bedside manner was still not particularly warm, she was showing considerably less hostility than she had when he'd first joined the group. "Toph will be right here if you need anything." Then, she was out the door before Zuko had a chance to respond, taking the candle with her.</p>
<p>"She's telling the truth, you know." Toph's voice came at him from out of the darkness. "She may hate your guts, but if you need healing, she <em>will</em> heal you."</p>
<p>"I know," Zuko said quietly. "I know." Toph said nothing more as he rolled over and did his best to sleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So now I know what it takes to get reviews out of you people. Just mercilessly beat on Zuko.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Okay, I can do that.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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